shadow of britain

Chapter 699: The Yin and Yang of London Officialdom
Palmerston took a sip of his drink, with the same calmness as if he had never before smashed a teacup on the ground in anger.

If you were meeting him for the first time, you would never have imagined that Palmerston's nickname in the Foreign Office was "The Overseer".

He held the bottom of the glass with one hand and gently stirred the wine with the other, as if thinking about how to say the right thing.

"Arthur, I have to say that I have always had a good impression of you. Especially those military reports on Russia were very well written, but the Duke of Wellington seems to have a different opinion."

This news surprised Arthur quite a bit, because he had never heard the Duke of Wellington mention this matter before.

"Really? Your Excellency the Duke, do you think there are any problems with what I wrote?"

Palmerston put down his glass and leaned back on the sofa. "The part about the Russian army's drill method. I remember you said in your report that the Russian army still uses the old-fashioned drill manual, emphasizing dense formations and pace, and is not good at fighting in small groups. You probably don't know that most of the troops under the Duke of Wellington are the same, or to be more specific, except for the York 'Green Jackets' of the 95th Regiment who can enjoy the privilege of advancing in columns and small groups, His Excellency the Duke requires other troops to march in horizontal formations rather than columns, and this is one of the reasons why we can always defeat the French.

Because in the Duke's opinion, if the troops are solid and well-organized, then the horizontal column is definitely more advantageous than the column, because the horizontal column has a much longer firing line. And it can also force the enemy to disband by quickly attacking the column, which is a task that the column cannot accomplish in close combat. Of course, the column is not without advantages. The advantage of the column lies mainly in infiltrating the enemy's position and raiding the rear. If it succeeds, the result is beyond doubt. In the Peninsular War, the French army launched a column attack on our position twice, once in Bussaco and once in Albuera, but both times they were successfully resisted and defeated by the Duke of Wellington's troops. "

Arthur heard this and said, "I can fully understand His Excellency the Duke's intention on this point. His Excellency the Duke has always been known for his steadiness in marching and his ability to fight defensive battles, so it makes sense that he prefers to march in formation."

Palmerston nodded slightly and said, "But there is nothing wrong with what you said. The horizontal column certainly has its advantages, but correspondingly, the British Army was also famous for its slow marching speed during the Napoleonic Wars."

Arthur pressed the issue: "Besides that, is there nothing else in the report that is worthy of Your Excellency the Duke's praise?"

"Of course. For example, the new uniform you designed for Scotland Yard is really beautiful and is also appreciated by the Duke of Wellington. His Excellency the Duke has always believed that we pay too little attention to clothing and appearance, but from a military perspective, the appearance of soldiers' clothing is actually very important, because only an army that pays attention to its neat appearance will appear more orderly and more honorable. In this regard, the 61st Regiment, the Flowers of Toulouse, should be a typical representative."

If it were someone else, they probably wouldn’t have thought of any connection between the 61st Regiment and beautiful military uniforms.

But when Arthur was serving in Scotland Yard, there were several veterans who had retired from the 61st Regiment in the police force. They would brag about their glorious deeds from time to time.

On the eve of the Battle of Toulouse in 1814, the 61st Regiment had just completed the change into new uniforms. As a result, in this bloody battle between the Duke of Wellington and French Marshal Soult, the 61st Regiment showed extraordinary bravery and tenacity in the process of attacking the French positions. Although 16 officers and 353 soldiers of the regiment were killed or wounded, and the overall casualty rate exceeded %, they still gritted their teeth and conquered the French defensive positions.

The regiment's heavy casualties in the Battle of Toulouse were also particularly conspicuous by the brand new uniforms on the bodies of the fallen soldiers.

From then on, the nickname of the 61st Regiment "Flowers of Toulouse" spread like wildfire.

Arthur was not surprised that the Duke of Wellington believed that a beautiful military uniform should be designed to enhance the army's sense of honor.

To his surprise, the Duke of Wellington believed that Scotland Yard police officers should be treated the same as soldiers and should be subject to the same constraints.

Compared to the "contract workers" who were hated by people and dogs and despised by Home Office officers when Scotland Yard was first established in 1829, perhaps this can also be regarded as a symbol of the continuous improvement of the status of the Metropolitan Police Department.

Before Arthur could figure out the cause and effect, Palmerston laughed and said, "When I went to Paris to attend the military review in 1815, the Duke of Wellington was leading 12 troops returning from the victorious Peninsular War to Paris. At that time, the Prussian army had twice the number of troops led by the Duke, but the interesting thing is that when the Duke of Wellington arrived in Paris, his strength was enough to match the Prussians. Although the Duke did not receive reinforcements and the Prussians did not suffer any major casualties in the battle, according to my observation, the Prussian army, with a nominal number of , was actually no more than the Duke of Wellington's subordinates. Can you guess why?"

Perhaps Palmerston never expected Arthur to answer, so he paused for a moment before answering his own question: "That's because the Prussians disappeared while walking."

Arthur was stunned for a moment, somewhat confused.

Palmerston went on to explain: "Most people would think that an army is like a parade, with the leader blowing a trumpet and beating a drum, and the rest would follow. But unfortunately, the Prussians are not a 'punctual nation' like us Britons. The Duke's troops marched all the way north from Bordeaux. Although supplies were tight, they were still disciplined and well-organized. They knew clearly who was in which company, how much rations they were responsible for, and who was to stand guard at night. What about the Prussians? They would desert every few days during the march. I heard that one cavalry company even disbanded spontaneously, supposedly to 'rescue the captured villagers.' In the end, someone found them by the Loire River, with almost every one of them wearing a fat chicken from some village hanging around their waists, singing and roasting a fire while drunkenly."

Palmerston went on to say: "Wellington believed at the time that personal plunder was the main cause of the corruption of the French army and would inevitably destroy the Prussian army in the future. To this day, his view has not changed. Of course, personal plunder is not limited to the grassroots soldiers. Although the plunder of middle and senior officers is not as violent, it is more destructive. Because when officers can recruit soldiers on their own, they will turn the army into their own private army. Those who ask for food and fodder today will ask for money tomorrow, and then the war will change its nature.

Marching and fighting became a speculative business for profit, and the officers' focus changed from winning honors to accumulating wealth. The Duke of Wellington had strict military discipline and did not allow officers to recruit soldiers on their own. Instead, they had to submit their needs to the Quartermaster Department, which would then apply to the War Department for the required documents. Military supplies had to be distributed through transparent channels known to the public and operated by authorities recognized by them. Therefore, for the public, this burden was not as oppressive as the direct pressure exerted on the public by the French or Prussian governments or the frequent changes of orders by individual officers.

As a result, although the Prussian army consumed the country's financial resources just like us, the people despised the former and loved the latter. As for France? It was very difficult to collect war taxes in France. Without a large sum of money, every property was subdivided. The French nobility was of course ruined, and those wealthy new nobles were ordered by Napoleon to destroy their homes to help the country and provide equipment. Napoleon would order one person to be responsible for food, another for shoes, and another for pants, treating them as leeches, allowing them to suck blood, and then forcing them to spit it out. "

At this point, Palmerston came back to the point: "By the way, Arthur, which management method do you think is better?"

Arthur replied calmly, "Of course it's the former, because when I was at Scotland Yard, I managed it in the same way as the Duke of Wellington."

"Well," Palmerston said, turning the page lightly. "When the Duke of Wellington was busy conducting exercises outside Paris, do you know what I was doing?"

"Life in Paris is not hard to guess. When I stayed there two years ago, I saw social balls and various salons going on day and night."

"You're right, Paris is indeed an intoxicating place." He paused, as if he had dug something out from the depths of his memory: "But I didn't go to Paris to dance that time. The protagonist of that dinner was not some beautiful Parisian countess, but Mr. Bresson. Have you heard of this person?"

Arthur frowned and thought for a moment. When he was in Paris, he applied to the embassy for a lot of information from the Napoleonic era in order to draft the police management regulations in the Hanoverian Constitution. The name Bresson was not a rare thing in those materials. "The Paris police chief during the Napoleonic era?"

"That's right." Palmerston nodded. "That night, Cartier-Bresson invited several of our friends in Paris, including me, two Dutchmen and a Swiss banker. We sat in a restaurant and bistro in Saint-Germain, and he was like a retired storyteller, cutting steak while talking about the various scandals of Napoleon's family."

Palmerston continued: "He said that Napoleon was easily influenced by his family, especially his sisters. They knew how to shake his will better than any minister, but his brothers? They were pitifully stupid. The Bonaparte empire was a tower supported by a genius but dragged down by a group of short-sighted people. He said that Napoleon's brothers were mostly weak and stupid, and when they were sent to serve as governors in conquered countries, they all fancied themselves independent monarchs, and it was often difficult to correct their mistakes.

Jerome, for example, when he wore the crown of the King of Westphalia on his head, is said to have stalked about in Cassel, giving orders to the left and right, as if he would sit on this seat forever, and when Napoleon's envoy Nervens hinted to him about the emperor, he replied with an admirable dignity: "I wish to remind you that I am a member of the emperor's family. " However, Nervens' special mission was to watch him and prevent him from doing anything wrong. So the poor gentleman had to bite the bullet and continue to persuade him, warning him that if he was too arrogant, the emperor might send a general to occupy his country. And Jerome seemed to take a long time to understand the persuasiveness of this unpleasant advice. "

Although Palmerston did not mention what Arthur had done in Russia, and even talked about seemingly unrelated things, Arthur felt something was wrong.

The old guy first emphasized that the Duke of Wellington was not very satisfied with his diplomatic report, and then used the Duke of Wellington to talk about discipline and management methods.

When talking about his visit to Paris to talk with Police Chief Cartier-Bresson, he specifically mentioned that there was also a Swiss banker at the table.

And now?

He now began to talk about how most of Napoleon's family were stupid, and about not being too arrogant, otherwise what you give can be taken back.

Arthur admitted, of course, that he was a suspicious person, but every word Palmerston said hit upon something that made him unhappy. Wasn't there something wrong with that?

But on second thought, perhaps Palmerston himself might not have known that his location was so precise. After all, it was not common to find a guy like Arthur who knew Napoleon's family, disobeyed diplomatic discipline, defrauded diplomatic funds through French banks, often "recruited soldiers" privately when he was in Scotland Yard, and tried to turn the Police Intelligence Bureau into his own private army, and who hid a lot of things from the government and his superiors.

Of course, this is not to say that other people in the government are good people, but most people only make one or two mistakes at most, but Arthur hits the nail on the head in all of them, which is very intriguing.

Perhaps Palmerston didn't know what Arthur was thinking, or perhaps he knew it but didn't point it out.

In conclusion, he went on with his story: "At one of the afternoon audiences a messenger brought a dispatch from Napoleon. Nervins, who had complained about Jerome and had previously privately advised Napoleon that Jerome should be reprimanded, was naturally pleased to see it happen. He deliberately proposed that King Jerome tell the Westphalian courtiers what the Emperor said in the letter. Jerome then opened the envelope and calmly and confidently read the letter to the officials and others present.

According to what he read, Napoleon was very happy to hear that things were going well. The emperor praised Jerome's prudent rule and his popularity among the people. His financial situation was so good and the army was so well-organized. Every day, new facts proved how wise he was to entrust Jerome to govern the country. Finally, Jerome concluded that the emperor's love and care for him grew day by day.

Nelvens laughed it off. He saw a tall hussar officer standing behind Jerome Long when he was reading the letter. He stretched his neck to peek at the contents of the letter. After leaving the palace, he asked the officer what he thought of the letter. The officer replied: "Thoughts? I have never been so shocked in my life. Why, do you know? I looked over his shoulder and read the contents of the letter. Every word in the letter is exactly the opposite of what he read to us. The emperor clearly scolded him in the letter."

Palmerston paused here and stared at Arthur for a long time without saying a word, as if asking him what he thought of the matter, or as if asking Arthur whether he wanted "the curse in the emperor's letter" or "Jerome's embellished lies."

Arthur sorted out his thoughts a little. If Palmerston was really so sure that he had evidence of his "crimes" in Paris and Scotland Yard, he would not have to call him to his office to solve such a riddle. Instead, he should have brought him directly to the court.

Moreover, even if his matter at Scotland Yard had been leaked, it would have been forgotten by now. After all, according to what he had heard from the Duke of Wellington and Sir Peel, they did not seem to intend to deal with the matter at all.

After all, Arthur left Scotland Yard as a hero. It was really not decent for him to do such a thing. Besides, they could use Arthur now, so there was no motive to pursue the matter.

As for the Whigs?

The previous Home Secretary, Viscount Melbourne, had not discussed the matter with Arthur, and the new Home Secretary, Earl Carlisle, had not brought up the matter either.

It was not only improper but also unreasonable for Palmerston, the Foreign Secretary, to intervene in this matter.

As for Paris...

Ah!
If anything happened to Arthur, Mr. August Schneider, who had just brought him here, would certainly not be able to escape either.

However, looking at Schneider's calm and composed look, it is clear that he does not seem to be in a position where his true intentions will be exposed.

Another thing is that Louis had been trying to restore Napoleon in Strasbourg some time ago, but Arthur was not aware of this beforehand and only learned about the failure of Louis' restoration from a letter from Dumas afterwards.

If it was just because Louis had been his police secretary that he was trying to stir up trouble in this area...

Then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs could perhaps change its name. The London Office of the Third Bureau of the Royal Office is more in line with the department's attributes than the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

(End of this chapter)